Brassieres



A. GARSON Oct. 28, 1958- BRASSIERES Filed Sept. 20, 1956 hid i I 4 United States Patent BRASSIERES Arthur Gar-son, New York, N. Y.

, Application September 20, 1956, Serial No. 610,992

4 Claims. (Cl. 128489) This invention relates to garments and especially to brassieres, and more particularly to the construction of the breast cups thereof, and by which the appearance of a smooth-fitting, seamless breast cup is attained.

It is an object of the invention to provide a brassiere with breast cups so constructed that the seams or lines of joinder of the conventional segments of the cup shall be hidden or concealed by an outer covering, which covering shall be of a stretchable elastic knitted material enabling it to very closely conform to the shape of the cup and be disposed in intimate relation to the inner fabric thereof, so that in outer appearance, the cup appears to be molded, one-piece construction.

'It is an object of the invention to provide an outer covering for the breast cups of a brassiere, which covering shall be relatively thin, sufficiently elastic to enable it to extend smoothly and without wrinkles over the surface of the cup and which shall be capable of being formed or molded into the desired substantially conical shape by the application of heat as transmitted to the fabric by steam.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a brassiere breast cup composed of a relatively thick inner fabric in one or more layers and of several joined segments, and to provide thereover and in close contact therewith, an outer covering of a knitted stretchable nylon or other synthetic yarn, the said outer fabric, before application to the cup, having been shaped, molded or otherwise formed into conical form by the application of steam or heat otherwise applied.

With these, and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts and method steps to be hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the central portion of a brassiere, showing the breast cups thereof constructed according to the present invention;

-Fig. 2 is a rear view of one of the breast cups;

Fig. 3 is a view of one of the stretchable nylon outer coverings for the cups, showing the same in its conicallyshaped form preparatory to being applied to one of the cups, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view through a portion of one of the cups.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates generally, a brassiere to which the present invention has been applied. The garment includes the two similar breast cups indicated respectively at 2 and 3. Each of the breast cups is composed of an inner layer 4 of a relatively thick, soft and comparatively inelastic fabric and in one or more layers, and to form the cup into its required substantially conical shape, the inner or body material 4 of the cup consists of a plurality of segments 10 seamed together as by the vertical seam 5 and the transverse seam 6. Other methods of producing and shaping the inner or body layer of the cup into substantially conical form 2,857,916 Patented Oct. 28, 1958 may be employed. Extended over and closely conforming to the outer surface of the cup, as formed by the inner or body material 4, is an outer layer or covering 7. Said covering is preferably a knitted, relatively thin fabric composed of extensible or stretchable nylon or other synthetic yarn of a type widely employed at the present time for hosiery and other articles requiring elasticity or extensibility. A characteristic of the yarn of which such knitted fabrics are made is that the same is kinked or undulated, with the undulations set in the yarn, and permitting extensive stretchability or elasticity of the resultant knitted fabric.

Prior to being applied over the outer surface of the inner or body fabric 4, the extensible knitted covering material 7 is shaped or molded into conical form to produce a cone such as shown in Fig. 3, and which can be drawn smoothly and snugly over the outer surface of the cup formed of the body material and stitched at the periphery of the cup by the stitching 8 and under the reinforcing tape 9.

The shaping or forming of the extensible knitted fabric 7 into the required conformatory shape is done by stretching the section of fabric of required size over a former or frame and then subjecting the stretched fabric to the action of steam and thereafter allowing the fabric to set under normal or room temperature. When removed from the frame or former, the fabric will be in a conical shape causing it to snugly fit the outer surface of the breast cup, and when slightly Stretched thereover, as it is stitched about the periphery of the cup, it will intimately conform to the outer surface of the body material of the cup, presenting a perfectly smooth and wrinkleless appearance thereover and greatly enhancing the appearance of the cup.

Since the knitted stretchable outer covering 7 is made in one piece for each cup, no seams are present in it, and the seams 5 and 6 which are the result of joining together the segments 10 of the inner or body material 4 are covered and concealed by the outer fabric so that as viewed from the front of the garment, a one-piece a-ppearance of a molded cup is the result.

When the outer fabric 7 is employed in the manner set forth, a breast cup is formed which is distinguished by its smooth, seamless, wrinkleless outer appearance so that when the brassiere is worn under a sweater or other closefitting outer garment, the conventional seams that are present in the cup portions of most brassieres, and which are often visible through the outer garment, will be absent.

While I have herein suggested that the outer covering 7 might be shaped or formed by being stretched over a form and steamed, other methods of forming the fabric into the required conical formation may be availed of and without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described an embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What -I claim is:

1. In a brassiere construction, a breast cup composed of an inner material of sufficient stiffness and thickness to maintain cup formation, and an outer fabric extended over and covering the outer surface of the inner material, the outer fabric consisting solely of a knitted, extensible crimped or undulated synthetic yarn, which fabric was pre-shaped into cup formation before its application over the inner material and stretched when applied over said inner material.

2. In a brassiere construction, a breast cup composed of a number of united segments of a relatively thick, inelastic fabric, and an outer covering extended over the outer face of the cup and completely contiguous thereto,

aeszom said outer fabric being composed solely of knitted, ex-

te'ns'ible undulated or crimped nylon yarn, and being stretched-and secured to the breastcup at the periphery thereof.

3. In a brassiere construction as provided for in-claim 2, wherein'the united'segments are joined by seams and the outer fabric covering extends completely over the face of'the united segments and covers and conceals the seams therein which unite the segments, the outer fabric being pre-shaped into conical formation independently of the inner fabric and stretched when applied over the outer face of the united segments.

4. The method of making a brassiere cup consisting in forming a cup of a number of united fabric sections,

shaping a single piece of knitted fabric composed of 15 2,804,099

4 crimped or undulated extensible synthetic yarn 'into conical formation conforming in general shape to the 'external'shape of the cup and stitching the same to'the cup While slightly stretching the fabric in a manner to cause said knitted fabric to contiguously conform to the exterior surface of the cup.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 2,211,549 Semons Aug. 13, 1940 2,304,989 Snowdon Dec. 15, 1942 2,460,674 Bihaly Feb. 1, 1949 2,555,177 Wilson et al May 29, 1951 2,760,198 Poole et a1. Aug. 28, 1956 Sherman Aug. 27, 1957 

